The DMPHP "will serve as a unifying resource for all health care and public health professionals, the emergency management community and others in the public and private sector who are essential to emergency planning and response," the press release continued.

Editor-in-Chief James J. James M.D., DrPH, MHA, and the Director of the AMA's Center for Public Health Preparedness and Disaster Response said that disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the attacks on September 11 as well as international emergencies such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and earthquakes in Pakistan and Iran "remind us that health care and public health professionals must be coordinated and prepared to respond the emergency situations."

In the most recent issue for July 2007 articles and letters to the editor include contributors such as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Health and Human Secretary Mike Leavitt and Ala Alwan from the World Health Organization among others.